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A mental health patient raped up to 60 times by a care worker has branded psychiatric hospitals a “playground for predators”.

The woman described how she was preyed on for a year by a senior staff member who would sneak into her room for sex and groom her with gifts such as Valium, cigarettes and chocolate.

Now the victim, who we are calling Catherine to protect her identify, has demanded better safeguards for patients.

She said: “The mentally ill are the most vulnerable in society in terms of being abused and having themselves believed. It’s an open playing field for predators in that environment.”

Catherine, now in her 40s, estimates she was raped 60 times. She was paid £100,000 compensation for her ordeal in 2003 and 2004.

Incredibly, her attacker avoided jail after receiving a suspended sentence.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live’s Victoria Derbyshire show, Catherine said: “He was the first person I met when I was admitted. After a week he came into my room, sat on my bed and started running his hands up and down my legs over the quilt.

“At times I was on a very heavy amount of Valium, not to where I was unconscious, but the sedative combined with my already defeated self, I was like putty.

“He would pull the covers back, do what he had to do and leave, all very quickly. I didn’t move.”

Abuse: The Little Brook Hospital (Photo: KNP)

Catherine, who went in to care after she had a ­breakdown following a decade-long abusive relationship, was told by doctors that if she tried to leave Little Brook Hospital in Dartford, Kent, she would be sectioned.

"She described it as being like a “threat” hanging over her.

She said the abuse became more regular until it was every night he worked – sometimes six times a week. The man told her he would report on her good behaviour.

Catherine explained: “It was total manipulation. He was saying, ‘this is your way out’. At the time you believe anything.

“You latch on to that hope because you don’t have much hope in anything else. He would come in to my room every night and rape me. But who is going to believe a mental patient over a highly respected member of staff?”

She even got a sexually transmitted disease but the abuse was still missed by other staff members. After being released in 2004, Catherine found the bravery to tell a nurse about her hell.

Asked if she thought anyone else at the hospital knew, she said: “I strongly suspect it can’t have been completely missed. I can’t believe how it could have been so frequent and not picked up on.”

Police charged the care worker on four counts of sexual abuse. He pleaded guilty to one act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a patient and was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years.

Kent and Medway NHS Trust ruled he should never work with vulnerable people again and paid Catherine £100,000.

The new trust said: “This occurred prior to the formation of the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust in 2006, so we are unable to comment on this. We take the safety of patients and staff very seriously and have stringent pre-employment checks and supervision.”

Hear Catherine’s full story on Victoria Derbyshire, BBC Radio 5 live, at 10am today and on Newsnight, BBC Two, at 10.30pm.